Announcements

This page is an archive of past Announcements for easy fact-checking and for the convenience of players, pulled directly from the GarouMUSH BBoards. Please do not alter any of the prose (fixing typos etc. is ok) so as to prevent confusion.

Note: I have tried to append like topics together, and now-irrelevent status posts have been omitted (such as new wizard announcements). Additionally, please note that anything written in House Rules supersedes the below, as those rules are more current than much of what's here. While I have tried to note changes with "Update" tags when possible, it's possible I've missed something, so if in doubt, compare dates (or ask a wizard).

Thanks!

-- Hobbes (Wizard, 2/13/14)

Skill Levels

Posted by Lysander: Jan 11, 1996.

Just a reminder about "levels" with respect to talents/skills/knowledges: please be sensible about these things. They operate on a sliding scale, if you have to quantify them at all. Consider 'Medicine' as a good point of reference:

• Medicine 1: You have a basic knowledge of first-aid, what somebody might pick up from a few Red Cross courses or from the Boy or Girl Scouts.
• Medicine 2: You're the equivalent of a paramedic (not an EMT), and have done upwards of 100 hours of extensive and intensive training in all kinds of emergency medical techniques, including how to supply a patient with oxygen, how to administer injected drugs, how to use defibulation gear and mass trousers, and advanced first aid procedures.
• Medicine 3: You're a licensed MD (about six to eight years of post-graduate work).

8Medicine 4: You're a specialist in advanced medicine, perhaps obstetrics, cardiology, or transplant surgery. You've written papers and have won the admiration, if not the respect, of your peers in the medical profession.

• Medicine 5: You're one of the most celebrated medical geniuses on the planet. You routinely make discoveries in medical science that have eluded other, lesser researchers for years.

Remember, it's usually better to describe the level of knowledge that your character has than to try to fit it into White Wolf's framework. Saying, "I'm about as skilled as an EMT," is better than saying, "I've got Medicine one-and-a-half."

Natural Childbirth, Parts I & II

Posted by Nemo: Mar 27, 1996.

I have heard of some confusion concerning lupus mating and littering, so I decided to post the steps necessary. Note: much of this is also found in 'news childbirth'. Please read 'news childbirth' and 'news wolves reproduction' before coming to me.

• (1) Do some research. Contrary to popular belief, this step is *not* optional. Please have some knowledge of what you're asking, or you *will* be rejected.
• (2) Find someone with whom to mate. This step *can* be switched with (1), above. :)
• (3) Send +mail to me, as Wyld wiz (not Lysander, as per 'news childbirth'. That's a relic section and is being changed.). Include in said +mail the names of both parties, the approximate size of the litter, and approximate date of childbirth (not conception, though that would also be handy information). Also please include whether or not you want any Garou pups. If you don't ask for 'em, you won't get 'em. If you *do*, you may still not get 'em. This is a mostly random decision, and the dice are very impartial.
• (4) You'll get a timely response, at least before the date of conception. :)
• (5) Do the deed. RP however much of this you want; I don't care.
• (6) Wait your 9 weeks. Please note: shapeshifting during gestation is *strongly* discouraged. It's possible, especially in early stages, but can be *extremely* bad for the growing fetuses.
• (7) Litter time. You *will* have more in a litter than are actually approved; wolf pups die for many reasons, even when a Garou is helping watch them. Also, some of the ones that die may be Garou--no one can watch the pups 24/7, especially if some sort of nasty finds out they're there.

Now, then, a few caveats: First, the wizzes may frown upon the litter. This is not really unusual, and can happen for a variety of reasons: not enough research on part of the player and not enough resources on the part of the IC region are the two most common. (I *do* keep track of resources available. I'm not a bookkeeper, but as Wyld wiz, I have to do something occasionally. :) ) If this happens to you, you can either go ahead and have the pups, but have them all die off; or just not go through with the whole thing. Second, as I said before, even if you want Garou pups, you may not get any. Also, Gaia decides who's Garou and who isn't. This isn't your choice to make. Again, the dice are great levellers. :)

Hopefully, I haven't discouraged anyone. :) I've just tried to lay out the process for having lupus pups as best I can, to try to clear up the lasting confusion out there. If you have any questions, or want to go on ahead, just +mail me. :)

"How do I get X?"

Posted by Loki: Dec 2, 1996.

One of the FAQs the wizards get runs along the lines of: "how do I get this slight-off-the-main-stream change to happen to my character?" Like, how do I get a familiar spirit, gift that noone knows, fetish that noone has, or washing machine for my new house. Typically this is stuff that would have an impact on one's +sheet, other times it's just something sufficiently out-of-the-ordinary, like Summoning a great Beastie, that your fellow players would raise eyebrows at if it were not legitimized.

Here's a guideline for how to handle such requests:

• 1) Figure out a plan of action for your character. This should be an IC plan of action, like I'm going to Malfeas to try and bring back the Wyrm's spinal cord for a fetish, not an OOC list of the powers you want the spinal cord to have.
• 2) Find a GM to make a story out of it and handle the results of what your character has planned.
• 3) Have this GM talk to the wizards about the possibilities of success or failure.
• 4) Play the story through, and see what you get.

One final note. A GM for this sort of thing could be any fellow player, since the potentially twinky part is passed by the wizards.

Language

Posted by Loki: Wed Feb 5, 1997.

There seems to be some inconsistency about how one learns the Mother Tongue. We've been around this track before, but it's probably not a bad idea to revisit the issue here. News says "No Garou is born with instinctive knowledge of the language." regarding the Mother Tongue. This means that you have to learn it just like any other language. Now, this has been ignored often enough that I don't encourage you to retcon your character's miraculous acquisition of the language... but let's not keep having miracles.

Totem Abilities

Posted by Nim: March 17, 1997.

Most of this is buried in or implied by the 'news totems' entries, I thought I'd go ahead and state it for the record. The /default/ abilities for a Totem spirit, without the addition of any totem points from the pack, are as follows: Power 20, 7 points divided between Rage, Gnosis, and Willpower, and the Charms: Airt Sense and Reform. Additionally, the spirit is not able to communicate with Garou who do not possess the Gift: Spirit Speech, nor can it speak to or be summoned by the pack members except through the usual gifts or rites that allow such things. The spirit has obligations to its Totem Incarna separate from its tie to the pack, and will often be awaylike it's time to once again review the guidelines for Wyrm taint and Rites of Cleansing.

Wyrm taint is a fundamental corruption of the spirit. Like a slow-acting poison, its immediate effects are so subtle as to often go unnoticed, but build over time until the tainted individual or place comes to serve the Wyrm. Please note that servants of the Wyrm are only occasionally homicidal maniacs or festering blights. Wyrm taint is detectable with gifts such as Sense Wyrm, but users of such gifts should keep in mind the imprecise nature of their magic: if one uses Sense Wyrm in the city, one is unlikely to discern freshly-rooted Wyrm taint in one's chum from the local "background count".

Rites of Cleansing can purge Wyrm taint from a person or area, but it is not necessary to perform such rituals over the corpses of fomori or banes. The purpose of the ritual is to *avoid* having to destroy that which the Wyrm has touched, and so once a tainted object is destroyed or a tainted person/bane killed (dead-dead, not disrupted-in-the-Realm-dead), a Rite of Cleansing is a shallow waste of time and effort.

Silver and Breed Form

Posted by Tskilegwa: Feb 5, 2004.

There's some contradictory information in 2nd edition and revised, so to clarify things....

• Homid garou take unsoakable aggravated damage from silver in every form except homid, and homid garou receive one level of aggravated damage if they even touch silver in any form but homid.
• Lupus garou take unsoakable aggravated damage from silver in every form except lupus, and lupus garou receive one level of aggravated damage if they even touch silver in any form but lupus.
• Metis garou take unsoakable aggravated damage from silver in every form, and metis garou receive one level of aggravated damage if they even touch silver in any form.

Moral of the story: Gaia hates metis. :)

Cubs and Gift Use

Posted by Tskilegwa: Feb 11, 2004.

This is a reposting of a post I deleted accidentally while cleaning up the bboard today.

On GarouMUSH, cubs are unable to use or learn gifts--even if they are on their +sheet--until they go on their rite of passage. Generally, during the rite or shortly thereafter, spirits approach the cubs and teach them their gifts--one for tribe, one for auspice, and one for breed.

The following is common IC knowledge for most Garou. Cubs used to be able to use their gifts back in about 1998 or so, but there was a sudden world-wide thickening of the gauntlet from a strange and unknown umbral occurrence. It is generally held to be yet more evidence of the losing battle the Garou fight, and how the Wyrm and Weaver are slowly killing off the Wyld.

Addendum: Cub Gifts / Update: 2010

Posted by Nita: Feb 1, 2010.

• Hobbes' Note: Addendum/Update titles additions are mine. As of 2014, this is still the current policy (2/13/2014).

Hey,

Years back, cubs could use their Gifts.

We'd like to reinstitute that, with some caveats.

• 1) These are breed and auspice Gifts only, not tribal Gifts, because you're not officially part of a tribe until you're Rited.
• 2) Your Elder (or whoever your Elder ropes into GMing it) should run a little ONS for you, to get a spirit to give you said Gifts. (This can/might also serve as an introduction to the Umbra and/or combat and/or whatever else.)
• 3) You (the cub-player) should be aware that you should a) take awhile to ICly get used to the Gift and b) should have them occasionally (or even often) fail. One is not, after all, used to magic.

Addendum: Cubs & Gifts Redux

Posted by Inlerah: Mar 6, 2012.

It's been brought to my attention that a lot of people weren't aware of this policy regarding cubs, where an elder may "teach" them the use of their Breed and/or Auspice gifts *before* their rite of passage. So I thought I'd post a note pointing to the original post ---> +bbread 2/53 -- when this policy was re-adopted (as it was part of the game many, many years ago and then somehow faded out). I also thought I'd add a clarification or two.

• 1) Note that this applies only to original breed and auspice gifts. Meaning, the breed and auspice gifts you chose in birthplace, one of each. No additional gifts can be learned or gotten from spirits until after the cub rites.
• 2) The former post talks of teaching, but in truth there are several ways these gifts can be "acquired". You can learn them from an elder or teacher your elder appoints, if they have said gift (no +learn required, just a RPed scene). Or, your elder can summon an appropriate spirit to "bestow" or teach said gift to the cub (again no +learn needed, just need a RPed scene). Or, the gift can be bestowed or taught or some other magical means through an "incident" or adventure. Again, no +learn needed. Just RP out the ONS/etc. Any and all of these are acceptable ways of coming into said gifts.
• 3) Lastly, I'm of the opinion that if cubs are not taught gifts before or during their rite, then there should at the least be a small scene /post/ rite where spirits bestow gifts upon the cubs. To me this just makes sense. It's not always RPed out because (like anything else) it requires wrangling cats, etc. But if at all possible it *should* get RPed out. One of my fondest GM memories is just such a scene, where I gmed Emma, home triumphant from her Rite of Passage and sleeping soundly that first night back, getting awoken three times by three spirits, each one "blessing" her with their gifts. It was all very Christmas Carol, and I guarantee you Emma never forgot how she learned Resist Pain. :)

Rites and Time

Posted by Tskilegwa: Feb 11, 2004.

Rites, unlike gifts, take time to perform. It takes 10 minutes per level of the rite to perform, and some rites can take hours (Binding) or many years (Rite of the Fetish). Performing a rite in a public place could be considered a veil breach. It's certainly relatively obvious to most other supernaturals, kinfolk, and otherwise clued individuals what you're up to and may attract unwanted attention. Yes, even walking around with Questing Stone could draw unwanted attention. ("What the?!?! Look at that dude holding that fucked up rock on a string floating like that!")

Rage and WP

Posted by Tskilegwa: May 28, 2004.

Just a reminder/clarification. A Garou's WP does not reduce the effect that rage has on humans/kin. A rage 3 Garou with a WP of 3 is going to freak out half the human population by default, and a rage 3 WP 10 Garou is going to freak out the same number of people. All the extra WP does is help the Garou to better forestall frenzies.

Frenzies are still going to happen, regardless of WP. It's part of being Garou.

Using Mother's Touch

Posted by Tersa: Aug 6, 2004.

It's come to my attention over the last several months that some players may be, let us say, "stretching credibility" in their use of the gift: Mother's Touch, given the mechanics in the book and +sheet information. Because of that, every Garou on the game who currently knows Mother's Touch will be getting individual +mail following this bbpost with guidelines they should be keeping in mind when they personally use the gift, tailored to their +sheet and +gminfo.

For general knowledge, however, please remember:

• Each use of Mother's Touch requires the expenditure of one temporary Gnosis point. Healing a Battle Scar (which is caused when a Garou Rage Heals) requires a total of *two* Gnosis points to heal, and the gift must be activated "in the same scene" as the Battle Scar is taken. Realistically speaking, this should be within 10 minutes of the end of the combat.
• Gnosis does not come back easily (I'll be making another post about this). Realistically speaking, a Garou should not really be using Mother's Touch more than once or twice a week (more on whether or not they *should* use MT, below).
• The mechanics for Mother's Touch is described in the rulebooks as Int+Medicine. (Yes, I know we don't use skills, but we can use them as guidelines, per "+help gminfo"). Most Garou on this game would not have over Medicine:1 (Red Cross First Aid-type training); if you think your character would be paramedic-level training or higher, it *must* be mentioned in your character's +gminfo, along with IC justification for it (and, the wizards will and do occasionally sanity check these, so don't try to BS or overexaggerate here :).
• The other half of the mechanics of Mother's Touch is a "difficulty of the target's rage". Given an average Int of 3 and a Medicine of 1...you tell me how many successes four dice is likely to have against a diff:3-4, which is probably median Rage on the game; this becomes even more difficult with the ahroun. :) (Don't make me pull out the statistics again. :) Feasibly, most Garou will only heal 1-2 levels per use of Mother's Touch, and, really, players should not be healing more than that per use in everyday scenage (i.e., outside of use during large GMed scenes or Stories).

All that said, there is one major question that should be playing into a character's decision as to whether or not to use Mother's Touch in a scene which is: "How critical is it that X be healed right this second?"

1) Garou heal *fast*. They can go from mostly dead to fully healed in one week (outside of breed form for homid and lupus, all forms for metis).

2) Gnosis is a far more a precious commodity than some players handle it. It can be difficult and takes time to get back. Most Garou don't have a lot of it. And, it's one of those things that you want to have on hand for when it *is* critical to use.

Given that, it is likely that outside of Storytelling scenes, Mother's Touch probably *shouldn't* be used much on the game, and should not be treated as proliferate and easy to obtain as the Band-Aid(tm) it seems some players treat it as. By overusing it, it is cheapened as a gift, it cheapens the IC importance of Gnosis, and it steals RP opportunities by taking away the consequences of getting injured.

If anyone has any questions about how they should interpret their character's use of Mother's Touch or as a GM when someone uses it in one of your scenes, please feel free to ask the wizards. Thanks!

Regaining Gnosis

Posted by Tersa: Aug 6, 2004.

• 1) Sacred Hunt - This would only occur as part of a Moot Revel, so would only occur here at *most* every two months (and for Moots when there is a RPed Revel, only if the specified target is an Engling). For moots where there is no RPed Revel, it may be safe to assume that this is done.

Result: Full Gnosis replenished.

• 2) Bargaining with Spirits: "Characters can attempt to find a spirit, such as an Engling, on their own and convince it to give them some of its Gnosis." In order to do this, it must be approved by the wizards beforehand as it requires bargaining with the spirit using Spirit Speech and will require a favor be done for the spirit in return.

Results: Variable (dependent on wizards/GM)

• 3) Meditation: The character *may* regain Gnosis by meditating for at least one hour in a 24 hour period (one day) on spiritual matters. It *is* however, *extremely* difficult (mechanics: Wits+Enigmas diff 8), and only one point of Gnosis can be gained per hour of meditation, so regaining more than one point of Gnosis in a day requires multiple hours of meditation. This may only be done once a day, and it very quickly becomes extremely difficult if done repeatedly in a short amount of time (if done three or more times a week, it becomes diff:10).

Results: It is unlikely that most characters on the game would regain more than two Gnosis points *per week* if they do this.

In summary:

We strongly encourage people to RP out any or all of these methods to restore Gnosis they may have used during the everyday course of the game, as it will add to the world experience and flavor of the game. Just remember that regaining Gnosis is not easy. Garou should probably not spend more than half their Gnosis per week, outside of extreme circumstances/emergencies. And, please, don't abuse the system. We don't like having to be bad guys, but we will speak to those we feel may be taking undue advantage of the fact that we do not code every single game mechanic. :)

+help chargen

Posted by Tersa: Sep 6, 2004.

After a suggestion someone made, I've documented up the current Character Generation (CharGen) starting stats information for cub and cliath Garou and mortal and Kinfolk Human characters into "+help chargen", which is not actually global code but a resource of data, much like "+gifts/+backgrounds/+rites/+charms".

Any future policy changes that will affect the process of Character Generation, in terms of stats, will be put there so it will be available for anyone to know.

If you have any questions about the information contained in "+help chargen", please +mail the wizards. Typos or problems with the command itself should be directed at Tersa. Thanks!

+shift/setup

Posted by Tersa: Jan 17, 2005.

Per a suggestion from a player, there has been new global code put in place tonight, '+shift/setup', designed to help new players of Garou characters who may not be very MUSH-code savvy. When run, it will set up a very basic &ASHIFT attribute to do the +shift renaming of the character when going from human-like to wolf-like forms and vice-versa.

Please see '+help shift' and particularly '+help shift2' for more information about this command.

+join

Poster by Tersa: Jan 19, 2005.

Per a player suggestion, the code '+join' has was installed yesterday. I made a change to the code this morning which will allow players to also use the command to +join characters in privately-owned but JUMP_OK locations, provided the character using the command passes any Teleport locks on the room (see "help @lock locks" for more information on Teleport locks.

Please see '+help join' for all the information about it.

Talisman Dedication Clarification

Posted by Tskilegwa: Oct 29, 2005.

Apparently some folks have interpreted that the Rite of Talisman Dedication (RoTD) allows a dedicated object to morph into and/or out of their PC at will while in the same form. This is not the case. WW:tA, 2nd edition, page 144, RoTD: "The Storyteller and the player should decide what happens to the object when the character assumes certain forms."

Basically, you cannot be strolling down the street in homid, pass through security and metal detectors and whatnot, and then suddenly have a sword appear in your hand ready to go. You have to shift forms in order to have items appear or disappear. You must also choose whether or not your PC decided to have that sword appear in that form or not when the Talisman Dedication rite was performed--not afterwards. If you decided that your sword is a tattoo in homid, that means it is *always* a tattoo in homid unless you re-perform the RoTD and set the "default" differently.

Now I'm not asking everyone to detail in their +sheet that their sword (or whatever) is present in Form X, Y, and Z, but not A and B. Just figure out what your character would do and make a note of it in your head--we're all adults here. But I do ask that those of you who have been interpreting this rite to allow you easy and immediate access to weapons or other object to please discontinue using this interpretation as (1) it is incorrect and (2) it gives your PC a very unfair advantage against everyone else who is playing by the rules.

Also, the number of items a Garou can carry is limited to their gnosis rating (as stated in all the WW:tA books)--not their willpower as some people have interpreted. There is one exception: GarouMUSH has a house rule that a sensible set of clothes may be dedicated for 1 gnosis point--mainly so we don't have the average homid running about in a pair of underwear and one shoe in the dead of winter.

Dedication is the creation of a spiritual connection between the garou and the dedicated object(s), not an act of sheer will. Again, people who are using this rule as opposed to the GarouMUSH (and WW:tA) rules are bestowing a decidedly unfair advantage upon their PCs in comparison to those folks who are following the rules, because almost everyone has a substantially higher WP than gnosis.

If you notice someone IC or OOC not following these rules, please page them to look at this posting so we can maintain worldview, rules, and consistency. It's more effective (and friendlier) if players help one another to enact these rules rather than wizards having to after the fact.

Thank you.

New ONS Policy

Posted by Tskilegwa: Feb 2, 2006.

Want to run an ONS? Feel free to do so without wizardly approval provided that your ONS meets the following five requirements:

• (1) Any opponents are "mundane"--such as humans, fomori, tainted creatures, low-end spirits, or low-end vampires. (BSDs would require approval.)
• (2) The ONS will not directly adversely affect a critical aspect of the game--the caern, irrevocably breaking the Veil in a way that can't be repaired, etc.--or interfere with an ongoing story.
• (3) The danger level does not exceed the possibility of more than one Garou being killed.
• (4) Avoid long-term benefits from ONSes--military grade weapons, winning the lottery, finding a fetish, making friends with the mayor--etc.
• (5) Don't be an idiot. :)

If your ONS does not meet all 5 requirements or you think it might be particularly unusual, could cause problems, or not fall entirely in line with worldview, then you need to +mail your ONS to the wizards for approval. New GMs are also strongly encouraged to submit their ONS ideas so as to get guidance/feedback/hints/assistance on running an ONS.

After an ONS is completed, send a brief synopsis to the wizards or a link to the log. (Remember: if the wizards don't know about your PC's renown/accomplishments, you're pretty much screwed when you attempt to gain rank.)

If there are player complaints or something looks amiss, the wizards will talk with the GM and give advice on where things seem to have gone wrong and how to avoid making the same mistake again in the future. We're not in the business of retconning though, so if you put your PC into an ONS and get killed and don't think things were fairly done, the wizards are predisposed to siding with the GM rather than the complaining player unless there was clearly foul play or exceedingly poor judgement on the GM's part. If a GM consistently gets complaints from players or continues running off-skew and/or outlandish/overpowered/messy ONSes, that player will have his or her ONS GMing privilege suspended and have to apply for every ONS via an extensive +mail to the wizards before it can be run. Use prudence and common sense and this new policy should work out great and promote more RP and IC activity.

Alts and Alt Interactions

Posted by Tskilegwa: Feb 2, 2006.

Let's all try and keep our alts from interacting and/or running in the same circles as our other alts. Also, try to not form small cliques of players with different alts in each group with overlapping circles between these alts. Likewise, if you communicate with folks over IM or telephones about the MUSH, don't use this to your advantage to "coincidentally" have everyone and their brother show up all at the same time and ready to come instantaneously come to your PC's defense or similarly tip the scales in a fight/argument/tug-of-war/whatever--this is giving an extremely unfair advantage to one group of people over the rest of the MUSH and is essentially "ganging up" on the rest of the MUSH's players. The ONLY time all your buds are likely to spontaneously show up coincidentally when you most need them to gang up on the opposition is when you're part of a pack/tribe, have pack speak or a similar means of rapid mass communication over distance, and you're in your pack's territory or your tribe's safehouse or similar haven area. Even if there is not IC/OOC metagaming involved, it most certainly gives the very distinct impression that it is happening behind the scenes. Backlash from this sort of thing, even if metagaming is not going on, is pretty much an inevitable consequence and the wizards will not defend you--even if you are innocent.

Addendum: "When You App An Alt..."

Posted by Nita: Feb 4, 2008.

For those of you who are /not/ new players, when you app a new character PLEASE mention who your other characters are/were in your application. We wizards don't have your e-mail addresses memorized, and we like to know these things. Thanks!

Addendum: Rule Changes to Alt Limits [And Foils] / Update: 2012

Posted by Kimpe: Jan 16, 2012.

• Hobbes' Note: Bracket addition, etc. are mine. This remains the current policy as of 2014 (2/13/2014).

After deliberation, we have decided to raise the alt limit on the game. This is being raised from 'two garou, one foil' to a 'no limit' rule with the following limitations. These limitations are guidelines and created to allow people freedom to RP while maintaining diversity. If an apped character can fulfill a role outside of these guidelines that the wizards deem is good for the game, they will be considered. PCS

• Once you have one character above rank 3 (Adren and above) you may not app in a second character rank 3 or above. This does not include characters that are apped at cliath or fostern and make their way through the ranks via in-game RP.
• You may not have more than one character per tribe, and it is heavily encouraged that you fill a different niche with new characters. (For example, having two characters who are city-only sneaky types would be discouraged regardless of tribe; having two city characters where one is a sneaky sort and one is a front-line heavy hitter would probably be ok; having a city sneaky sort and a woodsy heavy hitter is awesome).
• Same auspice will be allowed if the two characters serve different functions.
• No alt-crossing, challenging your alts, learning gifts from alts, getting information from alts. You know the drill!
• Wizards maintain the right to ask you to rework apps if your appwiz believes it is too similar to one of your characters on-grid.
• The no same tribe/auspice rule still applies to kin; you may not have a kin in the same tribe as your garou PC.

FOILS

• Foils will still serve the same purpose. You may have a maximum of one "permanent" foil per sphere (a mage, vampire, fera) that sticks around, and one story-based foil that will need to be taken offscreen once the story is done. If that secondary slot sticks around for longer than the storywiz deems necessary, you will be asked to either wrap up the plot in a reasonable time frame or remove one from the grid.
• Regarding foils: apps will be heavily considered to make sure they fulfill a foilish role. This will stay GarouMUSH, and not a multi-sphere game.

NPCS/INACTIVE

• Characters on NPC/Inactive status are not to be considered as PCs and are considered as a whole to be away from the Sept or unreachable. If you wish to RP a character on NPC/Inactive, talk to a wizard about bringing them back onscreen.

Final note:

This is experimental, and if it goes belly up we may bring the limit back down again. Have fun, be reasonable, and let's kick some wyrm butt.

Addendum: Alts and Leadership Policy / Update: 2012

Posted by Kimpe: Jan 16, 2012.

• Hobbes' Note: Bracket addition, etc. are mine. This remains the current policy as of 2014 (2/13/2014).

Due to the change in alt policy, we also would like to make this statement: due to an effort to keep power in the game from collecting in one spot, no one player should have multiple sept positions or eldership positions unless absolutely necessary, such as in the absence of any other active players in a tribe.

Thank you!

Addendum: Ranks In Applications

Posted by Inlerah: Aug 27, 2012.

• Hobbes' Notes: As new players are largely prohibited from applying for Adren+ out of the box, I decided to put this here. The header placement was intentional, since this is an addendum to the previous addendum/updates (2/13/2014).

The game has undergone a lot of changes in the last 6-8 months, including a relaxation of alt limts and a global rank bump-up. Given how well that's changed our dynamic, the Wiz Corps feels like it's time to rein in a little before we get too top-heavy. Apps of adren or above will be scrutinized more heavily, and their approval will depend on niche-need or special circumstances. Returning characters will still be allowed the global rank bump-up, or an offscreen challenge if they prefer, but not both.

Questing Stone Defined

Posted by Tskilegwa: Mar 11, 2006.

What the rite does:

This rite will provide the ritualist with a fairly good approximation of what direction to go in order to find a specific person or object if it is within 100 miles of the ritualist and the ritualist knows a specific name used by the target to identify itself. It is excellent if the ritualist needs to know what direction someone went--and later picks up tracks or other physical indications as to where the target went. It is a horrifically tedious (6-12 performances of 10 minute rituals, moving to a new spot and attempting to triangulate) to use the rite to find a target in or near a city environment--and that's if the target doesn't move. Moving targets within an urban environment are nearly impossible to find.

How the rite works:

The ritualist ties a short length of string to a weighted object (typically a stone) and, while performing the rite, speaks aloud the intended target's name. If there is one (and only one) person or thing with the same name within 100 miles of the ritualist, after this 10 minute ritual is completed, the weight will pull in the direction of the named target to within +/- 5 degrees. The weight indicates the direction for approximately 5-10 seconds and then the ritual ends. If the ritualist has something of a personal nature (hair, blood, the rear bumper) that belongs to the target, the ritual is far more likely to succeed.

Things this rite doesn't do:

• Stay active. It takes 10 minutes to perform the rite and get a "thataway" direction for 5-10 seconds. The rite then ceases. The ritualist must then perform the rite a second time if he or she wants additional information.
• Work with vague names. A garou looking for "Steve" or "Black Ford Escalade" in the city will not get any direction--there are a multitude of Steves and Escalades within 100 miles. The rite fails. If the garou ritualist knows a unique name such as "Steve Willington" or "license # ABC1234" then the ritualist is very likely have the rite succeed and indicate the direction of that specifically named target. Regardless, a name like "Steve Smith" will cause problems in a city (there's bound to be several), but not in a very rural area. However, if a Garou has a hair sample from the "Steve" he or she is looking for AND knows the target's name, the ritual seeks out a very specific individual and can succeed even if there are tens of thousands of Steves in the 100 mile radius.
• Work while moving. The pull of the weight is subtle and thus cannot be used while moving. It's hard enough to perform a ritual while thinking about not running into things.
• Cross over to the umbra or to umbral realms. It only works in whatever "reality" you're currently in
• Estimate distance. There is no indication as to whether the target is near or far.
• Exceed 100 miles in range from the ritualist.
• Pinpoint locations. A +/- 5 degree of accuracy gives a very good idea of where someone is or went, but doesn't allow anything resembling a straight line to be made towards that target. Roughly (and in order to not having to deal with trigonometry, for every 6' of distance between the target and the ritualist, there is 1' of "might be here" in area. Here's a scale-up.

100' distance = 16.7' wide at end of cone

600' distance = 100' wide at end of cone

1 mile distance = 890' wide at end of cone

10 mile distance = 1.7 miles wide at end of cone

100 miles distance = 17 miles wide at end of cone

In order to track down a target quickly, Garou must rely on someone with Scent of the Prey. Questing Stone is CLEARLY no substitute.

Bawn and Caern Land Ownership, Part I & II

Posted by Tskilegwa: Aug 28, 2006.

• Hobbes' Note: I slightly reformatted this post for ease of reading (2/13/2014).

This (and the following) post is to clear up an assortment of land ownership issues regarding the bawn and caern's territory.

The majority of the bawn was originally owned by a Garou, Aspen Demilune. She disappeared without a will around 1994, and the land was eventually confiscated and auctioned off in 1996. The local garou and their immediate kin scraped together about $15 million--nowhere near enough to buy the entire bawn, so they sought outside assistance. A few more millions were made available through a Silver Fang sept in Virginia (courtesy of Brittany Sterling, a Fang with strong contacts to that sept) to raise the grand total to $20 million. This was still woefully little money.

Robert deRath, a CoG with strong contacts with the UN and whose father was a Swiss banker, was able to use his numerous financial contacts and convince them to invest in property as a tax shelter of sorts via an empty shell holding company: Precision Products, Inc. A total of $465 million was raised through this venture capital group. These venture capitalists are not kin nor garou nor do they have any knowledge of the garou (for the most part). They're just people who saw a financial opportunity and who are being manipulated by a kin lawyer/president.

The auction for the caern and its nearby lands was fierce and bidding went very high--as the primary competing bidder was a known vampire (Adele Sandrego) with incredibly deep pockets (and likely backing). In order to keep the caern itself from being acquired by vampiric interests, the Garou, kin, and their venture capitalist backers paid a very high premium for their acreage--Adele saw to that--draining their coffers and preventing them from obtaining nearly as much land as they had hoped to acquire.

• Precision Products spent $485 million on 24,250 acres of virgin forest at $20K/acre--not a very good deal, but it was either paying over four times what the land was worth or let a vampire own the bawn and caern. This 24,250 acres encompasses the caern, the nearby bawn, and extends southwards to connect with WWNP (except for the railroad property which is emminent domain owned by the railroads even if it is not currently in use) and eastwards towards the base of the Blue Mountains. There territory does not extend very far to the north and the west of the caern, but there is a relatively decent buffer. 1,000 acres of this purchase is directly owned by the Garou.
• Sandrego Enterprises spent $400 million on 100,000 acres of virgin forest at $4K/acre--a decent deal. This property forms an "L" shape (rotated clockwise by 90 degrees) that completely surrounds Precision Product's purchase on the North and West sides. For whatever reasons, no development has occured on these lands after it was purchased.
• MondoBank (a regional banking company with no known supernatural connections/influence) spent $80 million on 16,000 acres of virgin forest at $5K/acre--a bit higher than Sandrego Enterprises paid because of the proximity to a town and a road which makes development much easier. The 16,000 acres forms a very narrow strip of land (about a dozen acres deep) that runs north-south along the east side of Highway 90 (the forest). This strip of land is currently being logged and developed--in addition to the occasional homesteads and farms along this stretch of highway. In essence, Kent Crossing is growing and the bank is turning a very significant profit on their investment from 10 years ago.

In summary, the land purchased at the auction totaled 140,250 acres (219 square miles) with 24,250 acres owned by Precision Products--and 1,000 acres owned directly by the sept. To help put this in perspective, here's a list of the National Parks in Washington State in order of size (acreage).

• 1) Olympic National Park (632,000 acres)
• 2) North Cascades National Park (505,000 acres)
• 3) Mount Rainier National Park (235,000 acres)
• 4) Lake Roosevelt National Recreation Area (100,000 acres)
• 5) Ebey's Landing National Historic Reserve (17,400 acres)
• 6) Klondike Gold Rush National Historic Park (13,200 acres)
• 7) San Juan Island National Historic Park (1,752 acres)
• 8) Whitman Mission National Historic Park (790 acres)
• 9) Fort Vancouver National Historic Park (366 acres)

A football field is about an acre. New York's Central Park (home of the Sept of the Green) is 843 acres. The entirety of Missouri's state park system is roughly 140,000 acres. The Great Smokey Mountains National Park is about 500,000 acres. The largest three national parks for the entire US are Death Valley (3.4 million acres), Yellowstone (2.5 million acres), and the Everglades (1.5 million acres).

Precision Products' investors all have votes (based on their financial contribution) on how to use the property. $1 million = 1 vote. The garou currently have just 20 (out of 485) votes, but the kin Fang president from Virginia holds sway over the overwhelming majority of votes and keeps all the venture capitalists happy. The initial premise of the company's formation was to create a legitimate tax shelter through using the land purchase as a wildlife santuary/reserve, thus keeping the land undeveloped. To this day, the majority of investors are still happy with this arrangement. A few discontents have been bought out, giving them liquidity, but time and the changing world economics may eventually see a shift in these investors' opinions on how the company (and land) should be used. Precision Products' president, who handles the investors and tries to keep them all happy, is not an elected position and is currently (and probably permanently) occupied by a competent Fang kin lawyer with connections to (and residence near) the Virginia Fang sept.

There is one exception in the Precision Product's articles of incorporation: There is a $20 million dollar parcel of land (1,000 acres at $20K/acre) that has been set aside specifically for the person in possession of a deed to this section of land. Additional lands can be added to this parcel of land at the cost of about $20K/acre (currently). The land in question is a square (31.62 acres x 31.62 acres) with the caern at the center. This deed has quietly been passed from Alpha to Alpha of the sept. The Alpha, with the co-signing of the acting Warder, has the power to sell all or part of the caern lands and nearby bawn it is on--should such a drastic measure ever need be taken.

Rank Challenge

Posted by Tskilegwa: Jan 7, 2007.

We're currently working on an easier to understand version of rank challenges due to some recent confusions. The (really rough) draft is available at http://mike.entropyinaction.com/garoumush/challenging.htm if you'd like to take a peek. Feedback/advice in making it better is appreciated. Eventually it'll be reformatted and tied in to the GarouMUSH webpage.

Update: 2014

Wiki addition by Hobbes: Feb 14, 2014.

Obviously, the above web address is now defunct, nor was that information ever tied into the webpage. More information will be added here soon.

Metaposing and You

Posted by Nita: May 17, 2007.

• Nita's Note: (Rewritten and reposted with Tski's permission.) -- (5/17/2013).
• Hobbes' Note: I reformatted this post slightly for ease of reading (2/13/2014).

Metaposing is when an otherwise ordinary pose is "beefed up" with information that no in-game character could possibly know or respond to without breaking the IC-OOC barrier. Used sparingly and well, it can provide other players with insight into one's character, clarify things that can't be expressed otherwise, or even insert bits of humor. Used too much or poorly, and the metapose can choke roleplay by simply not giving other players enough to respond to.

BAD METAPOSE EXAMPLE:

• Angela nods in response to her elder's idiotic order to scout ahead and says, "Ok." She knows that later she will have to disobey these orders, because she once had a previous pack alpha that asked her to do the same thing and it resulted in the death of half the pack. She will not let this happen again, even if it means that she must defy her elder and suffer the consequences. If only her elder would ask about this history that she does not wish to talk about, that is too painful to bring up....

Here, metaposing is being used as fluff to beef up what would otherwise be a very short pose. This is to be avoided; having one line of meat to seven lines of gravy is way past overkill. Also, by using "idiotic order" is a metapose insult, one that tends to irk other players because it cannot be answered IC.

As a rule of thumb, if you can express something in your pose without metaposing, do so. Here are two possible examples of how the earlier metapose could have been handled:

• Angela nods in response to her elder's order to scout ahead and says, "OK." However, a pursing of her lips indicates that she is not entirely happy with this decision.

(This leaves the door open for an inquiry/response as to why she does not look happy with the order, and generates the opportunity for more substantial RP.)

• Angela nods in response to her elder's order to scout ahead and says, "OK." But the perceptive might notice her eyes looking away as she responds, indicating that she's lying.

(Here the PC is attempting to hide her feelings. If the other PC has decent Perception, then that leaves the door open for possible additional interaction and prying. PCs with higher Manipulation are better able to conceal their opinions about things, where PCs with low Manipulation wear their opinions across their faces. This potentially leaves the door open for more substantial RP.)

So how does one /properly/ metapose? In a nutshell, carefully. Sparingly. Wed the metapose to action, and remember that it's best used as a scapel, not an axe. Like red-hot chili peppers, a little goes a long way.

• "Magic. The clothes thing. And the beast is you and it isn't. It's your anger, your rage." Grey glances back at her. "Do you remember what happened just before you woke up naked in the woods?" He's guessing about the naked in the woods thing, of course; it just seems like the logical thing to have had happened to her. At some point, just about /every/ cub ends up naked in the woods.

In summary, GarouMUSH favors a "show, don't tell" style of posing, just as it insists on third-person present-tense. There are times when one can get away with metaposing, to add a bit of flavor or dramatic irony or simple narrative flourish (we /are/ working in a text medium, after all). But use with caution.

Lounge Conduct

Posted by Grebbsy: Dec 6, 2007.

A brief and non-confrontational reminder from your friendly neighborhood wizstaff; the purpose of this lounge is to hang out and shoot the shit with one another. I don't think anyone is naive enough to think we can do this without anyone ever getting into an argument with someone else, but intemperate rows about people's sexual, social, political or moral choices are to be avoided if possible. Give a little, bend a little. We're all here to RP on GarouMUSH in the final analysis. Also, and I'm not looking at /anyone/ in particular here, can people please bear in mind that not all the players here may feel comfortable with certain topics being heavily discussed, plus guests may turn up at any time who we would prefer to recruit than to scare away by having them appear in the middle of a conversation topics of dubious provenance? In general, keeping the level of public lounge conversation down to PG-13 is the ideal to aim for (pages, of course, are off limits). On a purely personal level: I know most of you pretty well, I like most of you pretty well, the vast majority of you are totally awesome, as indeed is GarouMUSH itself, and I want all those things to continue that way. OK? OK. (x-posted to LJ comm)

Addendum: Me! And, also, Lounge conduct.

Posted by Nita: Apr 12, 2008.

Hi! I'm a wizard! Isn't it great!

And now, I say non-effusive things.

In case anyone's been living under a rock, there's been some Lounge tension. People are having problems. Basically, I think it comes down to some basic tenets: respect, and communication. If someone says something beyond your personal pale, be it political, sexual, or otherwise, please do ask them to tone it down. And, in return, it would be nice if people could then, in fact, either tone it down or stop talking about that particular subject.

Obviously, it would be preferable if the folks asking could be polite about it, and in return, it would be nice if those toning it down could also be polite.

In addition, if someone says something in a way which doesn't work for you, it is in fact possible to gently ask them about it, and hash things out between yourselves. (I often find that removing myself from the specific location the person said it in and then paging them about it is more useful than trying to have a conversation about it right then and there, in the heat of your emotion, but that's only one of many approaches.)

Just for the record, I don't have to say this, but will anyway: I'm not a prude. I'm sex-OK. Many people on this game are. But part of why I'm saying this is that to me, the Lounge is sort of meant as a PG-13 area, maybe, rather than a blunt R. It's meant to be welcoming for newbies and guests, and it's generally easier to do that if you're not quite as direct about some things.

Having gone on that tangent, I would like to emphasize it some more: the original intent of the Lounge was to serve as a welcoming place for newbies and guests, and I, personally, as a player, would appreciate it if we could possibly focus more on helping guests and newbies, when that's an issue. The scroll rate is somewhat energetic, and occasionally things get lost in the shuffle. I don't, at this moment, have a concrete suggestion about how to do that, other than to keep a weather eye out for folks looking lost.

Thanks!

Addendum: Lounge Conduct Redux

Posted by Nita: Nov 17, 2008.

Hello. The wizcorps would like to acknowledge that the Lounge is still a problem area and, therefore, address Lounge behavior, and consequences of offensive or out of control behavior. (This is not, for the record, spurred by any specific recent issues; it's simply that the wizcorps all responded to and had a discussion about possible solutions.)

The Lounge is explicitly for new players and guests to log on, get introduced to the game, learn about it, brainstorm new characters, and ask questions about how to set their new characters up. OOC conversation about other topics is welcome, of course, particularly game related ones, but they are not the purpose of the Lounge. The purpose of the Lounge is to help new players and guests, with useful, accurate information.

Given that guests, newbies, and, may I particularly emphasize, your fellow players all have varying comfort levels with sensitive topics, it's best to stay, for the most part, more restrained than you might in your personal living room. In other words, it's approximately PG-13, not R. In addition, while some topics (religion, politics) are not verboten, people have felt ignored or offended in the past so step warily there, as well. If you feel a discussion of any kind is escalating, do please do your part to de-escalate it.

Now, to a certain extent, this can in some cases be taken care of by direct player to player communication. If someone says something beyond your personal pale, be it political, sexual, or otherwise, please do ask them to tone it down. And, in return, it would be nice if people could then, in fact, either tone it down or stop talking about that particular subject.

Sometimes, however, a player may communicate and be rebuffed. If so, they should page a wizard and mention the specific offensive behavior (I, personally, would appreciate logs and/or excerpts). In addition, wizards themselves can and will be noticing problem areas and enforcing behavioral norms for out of bounds behavior.

This will, necessarily and regrettably, be a subjective approach, because we as wizards are individuals. It also won't be particularly enjoyable, on our end. I will include an abbreviated version of this post in an object in the Lounge, and reinforce the message in the Lounge's description.

As for the specific steps -- If you're offensive or problematical, we'll page you with a warning. If you continue to be offensive or problematical, we'll @boot you. If you come back after that and (that same day) are offensive or problematical, we'll @newpassword your various characters for 6-12 hours. (Yes, this could well affect your RP, in other words.) If you get three instances of @newpasswording, we'll give you an auto-strike.

For those unaware, strikes are an already-extant method of disciplinary action where more than 50% of wizards online have to agree that the player merits a strike. They have tended to be given out for highly problematic IC/OOC crossover, abusive behavior, and so on. Three strikes and you're banned from the game. (Though for the record, we've never had to ban a player due to strikes.) We'll begin implementation of this on the 24th. Please, take this seriously.

Thank you, and have fun IC!

Changes to Some Rites

Posted by Tskilegwa: May 22, 2008.

• Hobbes' Note: I slightly reformatted this post for ease of reading (2/13/2014).

We've made a few changes to some rites, and those changes (and a brief explanation) are listed below. If your PC had a rite listed below that shifted in level, its level has been updated on your +sheet. If you lost a point of rites from this shift, +mail the wizards on your next +learn and we'll put a thumb on the scale in your favor. If you gained a rite point from the shift, consider it a freebie.

• Rite of the Totem: Formerly a level 3 rite, this is now a level 2 rite so that it is more accessible to garou as a whole.
• Snow Walk: Formerly a powerful level 4 rite, this has been slightly nerfed/clarified into a potent, single-person Rite of Cleansing knockoff with graver consequences. It's now level 2 and therefore much more accessible.
• Stolen Wolf: Formerly level 4, now level 3 so that this punishment right is more accessible.
• Rite of Renunciation: Function/Use/Mechanics elaborated. Distinguishes a garou who goes ronin voluntarily via this rite (shameful) versus a garou who is forced to go ronin via Rite of the Lone Wolf (extremely shameful and a severe punishment).
• Rite of the Lone Wolf: Reduced from level 5 to level 4. New description to separate this rite from Rite of Renunciation (the much more commonly used version).
• Rite of the Shattered Soul: New description that doesn't allow the garou's soul to be recycled. This rite now utterly and irrevocably obliterates a garou's soul forever. (Yes, very scary.)
• Rite of Binding: Formerly level 1, now level 2. Binding is a complicated rite, thus it didn't make sense being a level 1 rite where someone might attempt to learn it as their first rite.

Talen Making 101

Posted by Nita: Oct 31, 2008.

Hi. It occurred to us that there was, as far as we could tell, no bboard post about talen making. So, borrowing liberally from Tski's spirit guide (http://mike.entropyinaction.com/garoumush/RITES.HTML), I give you: Talens 101.

The process of making a talen is both an IC and an OOC one. You want to RP the thinking about the talen, and considering the potential spirits involved, and the process of making its vessel and such, and you OOCly want to get that talen's effects and what you're giving to the spirit approved by wizfolk. So ideally, you should be RPing around the subject (thinking about spirits, etc) while you're having the OOC discussion with the wizfolk. (A note about vessels: in general, these should be pure, interesting, wonderful things, either hand-made artifacts or rare and curious things found by the Garou.)

Once you have that discussion, you can then get a GM for the Summoning/Binding process, and the direct dealing with the spirit. (If the GM you get isn't a wizard, make sure to have them have a brief conversation with us about the talen and all.)

What we want in a +mail about talens is a) what effect you want from the talen, b) what spirit you're appealing to, c) what vessel you want to use for the talen, d) what you're willing to give the spirit as chiminage, e) what other Garou are going to help you, and f) who the GM is, if you have one. It's most /definitely/ OK to talk to a wizard in pages and clarify this and/or brainstorm ideas about it beforehand; but we will want to have you +mail afterwards because we want to keep track of who has what and whether the local spirits are being overburdened and the like.

Generally, the more you put into a talen, energy/chiminage-wise, the longer it 'lasts'. It can go from two weeks, to 'the length of the storyline in question.' That, too, can be part of the approval process.

Update: 2014

Wikia addition by Hobbes: Feb 13, 2014.

Obviously, the above web address is now defunct. More information will be added here soon.

A Short Guide to @mail

Posted by Nita: Oct 31, 2008.

Hi.

@mail isn't all that different from +mail. (Which, by the way, you can still read as usual, it's just harder to send +mail now, and it'll be phased out soonish.)

Main thing is, use @'s a lot. (Really, it's the main difference, other than mail aliases, which may or may not be createable by players, we're still figuring that out. The only current mail alias that exists is to the wizards. We're getting tribal ones and such worked out.)

To read mail, either do @mail, then @mail/read #, or just @mail #. You can also do, say, '@mail/read 3-7', if you want to read a swathe of messages at a time.

To send mail, just '@mail <player>=subject', and then type as you usually would for +mail. Sending (with two --'s) works as usual, as well. For larger groups, @mail/to <people>; to cc, @mail/cc <people>. To proof your mail, do @mail/proof.

To reply to the sender of a message, just do @mail/reply #, with the # being the number of the message you're replying to. To replyall, just do @mail/replyall #, with # again being the number of the message you're replying to.

To delete, which I had been missing until I wrote this guide, so this is useful for me as well as y'all, you do '@mail/clear <number of messages>' or '@mail/clear all'. It then (in theory) clears them out of the DB when you log out. You can do a @mail/purge if you don't want to wait til logout. There are other feeps y'all can explore in help mail-other.

• To forward (and this I like), just do '@mail/fwd <msg #> = <player-list>'. Handy!
• One can still review (@mail/review) and retract (@mail/retract), as well.

There are also folders and stuff, but that can be explored in 'help mail-folders'.

Codefoo, including osay & +mp/h

Posted by Nita: Nov 2, 2008.

Hi. +mp/h now works again, though the output is different. It aliases to osay and mph. For more information, type osay; a help file emerges. +mp, +mp/loc, +mp/caern, and +census/long are fixed, too! Thank you, Code-Breaker! (And Aspen.)

Mailing Aliases (or Lists)

Posted by Nita: Nov 17, 2008.

Hi. This is a short guide to using mail aliases, or, if you're like me and using incorrect terminology, mailing lists.

First of all, type @malias. That'll get you a list of mailing aliases/lists now ongame, thanks to Aspen and Code-Breaker.

To send @mail to any of those aliases, just type @mail, a *, and its name. So '@mail *Guardians=A fight!' will work, sending your @mail to all Guardians. Or, as another example, '@mail *Bone_Gnawers=A question?' will go to all Bone Gnawers.

+census works for all @maliases. So +census mages, +census police, and so on. These aliases are linked to the general census, but may get updated slightly behind it. Several notes, here. These are case sensitive addresses. Always use the proper capitalization in the mailing address @mails you send. If you don't, it won't get sent to the right @mailboxes. Also, it doesn't fill in which alias you want, so make sure to type it accurately.

For more information, please see help @malias and help @malias2. For more information on how to send regular @mails to multiple recipients, please see help mail-players. (The most important detail there is that to send mail to a list of people, you no longer have to separate the names by commas.)

Umbra Guide Revision

Posted by Nita: Jan 24, 2009.

Hi.

The Umbra guide (at http://www.garoumush.org/UMBRA.HTML) has been updated.

Nothing specific in the /worldview/ has changed dramatically, it's just a perspective shift, in order to make it clear that, while the Umbra is, particularly at certain times of the month, dangerous, it is also the Garou's spiritual home and should be recognized as such.

Take the exhortations for caution as license to run interesting things, or get people to run interesting things for your pack, rather than a statement devised to encourage no Umbra RP at all.

Update: 2014.

Wikia addition by Hobbes: Feb 13, 2014.

The now-defunct page referenced above is currently available at the following: http://web.garoumush.org/umbra-guide.html.

Keepalives

Posted by Nita: Feb 3, 2009.

It has always been our loose but unenforced policy that one should not idle, completely gone from the keyboard, in a public room. (By "public room," I mean, "Rooms that are not your character's own personal homes." The Lounge is a separate, but related, issue that I am not currently addressing.) This has gone unenforced for some time, but we're addressing it now. If you want to idle while searching for RP and/or hoping someone will come RP with you in your public spot, please do. If you want to idle via keepalive and are not contactable (asleep, out to lunch, whatever), that's where we draw the line. Please expect to be sent home or booted by a wizard, as it is not reasonable conduct. And if you continue the practice, further steps may be taken.

Slightly related: It is obviously perfectly fine to ask if you may stay to log or watch after your character leaves the scene. However, please do be aware that it's also perfectly reasonable for people to prefer that you not. If you're leaving the scene and not sticking around to log, please do leave the room in some fashion.

Fetish Modification

Posted by Nita: Feb 8, 2009. Hi. We've made some minor but pertinent changes in our fetish creation mechanics. Previously, it had required a straight up a Gnosis per level of the fetish, no matter if it failed or not.

The new specifics are that it is still a permanent Gnosis per level of the fetish, and it takes six months per level of the fetish to properly and carefully craft the item and respectfully propitiate the spirit. But, on the bright side, you can be +learning new Gnosis at the same time, and if the Rite fails, you only lose one Gnosis point (because you'll still have poured your soul and energy into the making of it, after all), and you'll know it's failed within the first three months, which was not the case previously.

Addendum: Creating Fetishes

Posted by Inlerah: Jan 26, 2012.

• Hobbes' Note: Due to the forum being difficult to access, I'm including the relevant information as part of Inlerah's post, below the triple-dash.

I was going to post the new fetish creation document here, but it turned out quite long. As a result, it is posted to the forums: http://web.garoumush.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=45

If for some reason you cannot access the forums, I can email the relevant info to anyone who needs it. The document will eventually be put into the in game news files, as well. Thanks!

---

The creation of permanent magical items should never be an easy thing to accomplish, even within the world of darkness. Only the most dedicated theurges ever become good enough to make items of true power. If you wish to become such a theurge, then understand that a large portion of your RP should focus on the elements of forging these items. Keep in mind that it’s unrealistic to RP hanging out all day, working at a day job to pay for rent, vigilantly patrolling and being involved in all the various plot arcs and stories, while at the *same* time forging great fetishes. There’s just not enough time in the day for all of that. So, fetishmakers are a very select, small group of very dedicated garou.

Mechanics:

Creating fetishes costs 1 point of permanent gnosis per level of creation. This represents the spiritual effort the fetishmaker pours into her creation. On GarouMUSH we allow the theurge to +learn gnosis at the same time, to help replenish this loss. Only the first level is guaranteed, however. So if crafting a level 2 fetish, multiple +learns will be needed to replace the spent gnosis, and these +learns may not be guaranteed. However, if crafting larger, more potent fetishes, the gnosis needed to fuel those fetishes may be obtained from outside sources. For example, If Garou-A wants to make a level two fetish, he may pour one point of his own gnosis into it, and then ask his tribemate Garou-B to give up one, as well. If Garou-B wishes to regain that gnosis, he will have to go through the regular +learn process. This more easily allows for the creation of larger, more powerful fetishes and at the same time offers everyone the opportunity for significant RP. It also re-enforces the communal rather than solitary nature of garou.

Steps:

• Contact the fetish wizards with the idea for your fetish. You will need to explain exactly what powers or effects the fetish will perform, what item will serve as its vessel, what spirit(s) you wish to bind into it, and what level the fetish will ultimately have. The wizards will give feedback until a final plan is either rejected or approved.

• When your plan has been approved, the fetish wizard will start a fetish +learn for you and give you an End Date, when your fetish will be complete. Fetishes take (generally) 6 months per level to make, but the wizard may increase or decrease this time depending on the experience of the theurge and IC circumstances.

• Once the process has begun, it is up to the theurge to complete the various stages of fetishmaking. The first is to make or find an appropriate vessel. Once found, made, and/or modified, the vessel needs to be purified. Each garou has her own method for purification, but most tried and true ways involve burial in consecrated earth, and/or submergence in the pure waters of an untainted mountain stream for up to a month. The RP around vessel creation and purification need not be GMed.

• While the vessel is being purified, the theurge is free to court spirits for binding. It must be noted that this process will be tenfold harder than the same process for talenmaking. You’re asking a spirit to give itself up indefinitely to your cause. The price, therefore, should be much steeper than any three day or three week talen. Please keep this in mind. (Note: forcing a spirit is always an option, but it comes with its own risks. On occasion, fetishes created using unwilling spirits can become cursed.) The more powerful the effect you wish to create, the more powerful the spirit needed. In addition, if you have more than one effect you wish to create in a single fetish, and those effects are disparate enough, you may need to bind more than one spirit into the fetish. These details need to be worked out and approved with the fetish wizard beforehand. RP regarding the obtainment of spirits needs to be GMed.

• After the vessel's purification process is complete, the fetishmaker must imbue it with gnosis. The process for this varies greatly among and even within the various tribes. Get often use bloodletting, while Stargazers might simply go into a deep trance while holding the vessel. The fetishmaker (or the gnosis donor) must do this imbuing many times in order to impart a full, permanent point of gnosis into the vessel. As a guideline, the garou might do this ritual anywhere from 15 to 50 times per point of gnosis. Not all of these sessions need to be RPed, although several should. This aspect of fetishmaking need not be GMed.

• Once the vessel is primed and the spirit(s) are ready, the ritual (Rite of the Fetish) must be performed. This version of binding is more intense than the one used for talens, of course, but it is essentially the same process as far as the theurge is concerned. However, this climactic stage of fetishmaking tends to draw unwanted attention, and therefore it is often common that a theurge’s pack be nearby during the ritual to fend off any unwanted spiritual aggression. The Rite of the Fetish can take hours, depending on the level of fetish being created. This stage of fetishmaking requires a GMed scene.

• The final step is a second purification. Reburial, or replacing the now empowered fetish into the mountain stream for the same amount of time as the first stage purification completes the process. Once retrieved, the fetish is ready for use.

Last Notes:

All of these stages must be completed before the End Date given at the beginning of the process. It is up to the theurge to make sure the GMed scenes get done, and done on time. Failures can sometimes occur. The fetish wizard will notify the theurge when this occurs as soon as possible, so as to minimize the loss of her time and effort. If, however, the fetish wizard determines the process *should* succeed, but the theurge fails to fulfill the required RP elements in time, the fetish may fail anyway. Additional time in the process can be granted if circumstances dictate, of course. It is highly recommended that the theurge keep the wizards in the loop and provide all necessary RP logs.

I hope this document helps potential fetish crafters understand the process, and I hope it encourages them to give it a go. Any questions or comments can be sent to the wiz staff.

Update: 2014

Wikia addition by Hobbes: Feb 13, 2014.

This policy may be soon undergoing minor tweaks (largely regarding timing), but remains largely the same. Updated documentation will be forthcoming. For specifics, speak to Hazmat. (Haz, if this is incorrect, just delete this update.)

Code Updates [+phoon, elders, guardians]

Posted by Code-Breaker: June 25, 2009.

• Hobbes' Note: Bracket addition in title is mine for easy searching (2/13/2014).

There have been a few minor updates to +commands in GarouMush.

• +phoon is updated to give the phase of the moon for any day between 1970 and 2037 inclusive, which should help with finding birth moons and planning moots. See '+help phoon' for details.
• +elders is updated to include guardian packs and guardians. See '+help elders' for details.
• +guardians is added to list guardians. See '+help guardians' for details.

New Rites & Gifts

Post by Nita: Mar 21, 2010.

• Hobbes' Note: Included this namely to remind people the policy for adding new gifts/rites still stands and we are open to queries (2/13/2014).

Hi there. We have, in the past few months, added some Silent Strider Rites (Rite of the Jackdaw, Celestial Navigation, and Purification), and one Gift, Sense of the Transformation. We also, just today, added Master of Fire (somewhat changed from the book), Echoes (a Kinfolk Gift adapted for Homid use), and Wolf at the Door, a R1 Red Talon Gift.

We're going to be considering some other Gifts and Rites as time goes on, and we do accept player submissions. But 1) we're slow, and 2) be prepared for us to a) revise them considerably, or b) choose not to add them due to game balance issues.

Addendum: New Rites

Posted by Nita: Oct 16, 2010.

Hey,

Given as someone's already put them on the Wiki, apparently people noticed these, but we've introduced a couple new Rites recently.

One of them (Calling the Guide) was suggested by Starcaller. It's originally from the Player's Guide (and I should source the +info), but we changed its level around. It's sort of Summoning with training wheels.

The other (Deft Evasion) was suggested by Meg, as a Battle Rite theurges (and others not so buff) can perform to aid ahrouns & company. We may well add others as time goes on.

As per usual, we welcome more suggestions. Just be prepared for it to a) take awhile, and b) for us to edit them, sometimes a lot. (Calling the Guide was originally L3, for example.)

Some +learn/+teach Commentary

Posted by Nita: Mar 27, 2010.

Hi, I realized we hadn't set out general expectations on learns/teaches in awhile, and I like being clear about some basics inherent in the system.

1. This is, I think, in the +help files, but some of the assumptions behind it aren't. There's four ways of learning stuff: From another character, from Self, from an NPC, or from a Spirit. Most Gift/Rite learning, and some attribute stuff, will be done via other characters, or (in the case of folks with Mentor backgrounds) via NPC. If it's a really odd Rite or Gift learn, we'd appreciate a @mail explaining what's going on; with most Gift/Rite learns it's not a big deal and is unnecessary. Backgrounds and many attribute learns are going to be done via Self or NPC. One can just up and learn, say, Contacts or Resources at one's own volition, if it's logical to do so ICly, but background learns from plots are also common; Allies, Contacts, and so on. (Very rarely Fetish, and probably not Mentor unless something really interesting goes on.) When you do a learn via Self (or NPC), it's best to send a @mail explaining what's going on.

And, finally, one can learn Gifts (or, very very rarely, Rites) from a Spirit. We encourage people to do that only when there's no other IC way to learn it. (And would like a @mail about it, too.) It will take longer, OOCly -- I often double the learn time for a Gift, if you learn it that way.

2. Most folks know this, but in general, we're not going to approve learns for Gifts which are out of your usual spread of Tribe/Breed/Auspice. (So we're not particularly enthusiastic about a Galliard learning an Ahroun Gift, or a homid learning a lupus one.) But sometimes, RP takes you that way, and sometimes, if the justification is strong enough, it can be approved. It'll often need to be supported by chiminage and/or RP logs, though. Rites tend to be less carefully monitored in that way, but some things (a particularly unspiritual Ragabash trying to learn Summoning, say) will certainly be rejected. Which is, I note, an RP opportunity in and of itself.

3. In general, if you've just finished an attribute learn, it's probably best to wait 2-3 months before immediately starting another one. Now that +learns don't take more than a /year/ doesn't mean you should do them hand over fist. Do some teaching, or focus on backgrounds, or what have you.

4. Wizards differ on time they give to stat learns. For me, it takes more to get from 1->2, and more time to get from 4->5. We differ less on Rites and Gifts, and generally give about a week per Rank of a Gift, and a week per Level of a Rite. (Sometimes less, sometimes more.)

5.If you've learned too many Gifts (or Rites) in too short a time, we probably will start rejecting your Gift (or Rite) learns. (You can create IC reasons for this if you want, and I often do offer a possible IC one for any given rejection; a reasonable one is the spirits being irritated at your presumption. One way to avoid this is to teach stuff.) We'll also reject them, at times, if you're restricting your learning/teaching RP to another player too much. (In case you think this is an area that wizards are never poked about, this has happened to me, and recently, even.) Basically, while packs and RP circles are positive things, sometimes we like to encourage people to expand them, and this is one method of that. And, finally, sometimes we reject learns because of random chance, or because it seemed like a good idea at the time. One /can/ try again later.

6. We really like it (a lot) if you do both +teaching and +learning. Part of the point of the system is to spread Gifts and Rites around among players; also, even more importantly in a game that focuses in part on the day to day life of werewolves, the point is to spread IC traditions and conventions (and personal quirks) around. So go thou and do both.

7. It seems this isn't on the boards, but we tend to encourage people to learn a couple of Level Zero Rites (which take 2-3 days to learn and which we as general policy don't reject) before learning Level One Rites. The basic logic is that learning L0 RItes will give you the baseline in basic ritual skill to make sense of L1 Rites. (I, personally, as a wizard, will let people who haven't learned L0 Rites learn L1 Rites, but I'll have it take longer. Sometimes much longer.)

Also, it has the added OOC advantage that it gets people to learn L0 Rites (which, a few years ago, they weren't), and L0 Rites are Fun.

Update: 2014

Wiki addition by Hobbes: Feb 13, 2014.

This policy has been updated. More documentation soon.

GM'd Scenes

Posted by Cennoreth: May 31, 2010.

Hi folks. I'd like to mention a couple of things that I'm sure everyone's familiar with, but are the kind of thing that occasionally need reminders issuing, like shushing people in libraries.

• 1) OOC Chatter in large GM'd scenes. Can we try and keep the noise down? It's distracting for the GM and for other players, and can be mood-breaking. Random OOC stuff in the lounge, or if it's a big scene and we want to chat away, we can get a room and shove some bodies in there to wisecrack our way along.
• 2) Arguing the toss. If you think the GM's missed something, or misunderstood something, then it is worth paging them, but if they stick to it - even if you think it goes against some WhiteWolf rule or other (or even doesn't make sense) - live with it.
• 3) Pushing The Posing Envelope. GMs make the call on whether something is possible or not. Remember to pose attempts, but try to feel for when you need to ask whether an attempt is even feasible. Don't assume too much, because it's not guaranteed that everyone else will make the same assumption. Similarly, GMs should, in almost every pose they make, be spelling out the geography and situation, so that everyone's on the same page. Even if it feels repetitive.

Not super-big stuff, but worth a reminder. And remember to thank the GM after the scene - it's hard work!

Website & Cub Age Revisions

Posted by Nita: Oct 16, 2010.

This is fairly old news, but I thought I'd note it in a post anyway.

First of all, we actually have a website which does not say "under construction," thanks to Inle and Aspen. Also, it reflects actual worldview and is useful! Yay y'all. (http://www.garoumush.org, for those not aware.)

Second of all, the age of first change, which has tended to be "puberty and older," and was once mid-teens, went on a slow slide downwards, to the point where our online guides were saying 11-12. This has now been pushed upwards again, so that generally, if you're apping a cub, try and get them to about 16-18. Obviously, very high rage cubs will often be somewhat younger, at first change, and sometimes we'll have 19 year olds undergoing first change, but these should be supported in the application.

Also, just to say it again, one can have cliaths be any given age, and cliaths from 16-30 or so are Perfectly Normal. (Though probably one should have a Particular Reason for a cliath above about 25 to still be a cliath.)

Update: 2014

Wikia addition by Hobbes: Feb 13, 2014.

Please note the website address has changed: http://web.garoumush.org/.

New Totems & Other Wizmoot Things

Posted by Nita: May 20, 2011. Hobbes' Note: Included this namely for tracking of new totems as they happen (2/13/2014).

Hey -- First of all, we've finished the current round of Totem revisions with the inclusion of the Triune Goddess (formerly known as The Badb), and Griffin. (Those were actually put up a few months ago, but we tweaked them a bit at the last Wizmoot a week or so ago.) As ever, if you have a Totem you're utterly in love with and want to include for your own pack, we wizards will take a look at it (and probably edit it a lot). On the other hand, there are many new Totems available for use, too...

The next stage on the Totem front will probably be a garoumush.org website revision, which will delineate Totems that are not on-game but which we think are in some way nifty and potentially useable for NPCs and/or plot packs and/or tribal-specific packs. This will, as ever, take a few months of discussion on our part.

Other things we went over at Moot included some plot discussion. Watch the skies! Watch for hints! And, more specifically, watch for the Great Hunt!

Update: 2014

Wikia addition by Hobbes: Feb 13, 2014.

Many totems have since been added, several of which were pasted to the Forums (requires permissions; speak to a wizard about getting these, though note that the forum is largely unused as of 2014). Most, if not all, of these totems have already been added to the wikia: Lady Luck, Trout, Dog, Peregrine... I may have missed a few.

Change in Rank

Posted by Hazmat: Dec 22, 2011.

Rank on GarouMUSH has skewed low for a long time, but that's going to change.

For more information, see: http://garoumush.livejournal.com/177743.html

-- Hazmat

Update: 2014

Wikia addition by Hobbes: Feb 13, 2014.

Extant characters that were approved prior to this announcements (but may have been idle at the time) are still being grandfathered into this change as of 2014. Everything else remains largely the same, with the exception of cubs; see the addendum.

Garoumush Forums

Note by Hazmat: Jan 12, 2012.

Thanks to Aspen, GarouMUSH now has its down dedicated web-forum, hosted on our own little corner of the Internet. While not a replacement for the MUSH bboards, the GarouMUSH forums provides a central place to post logs, artwork, fanfic and the like, as well as discuss stuff.

The forum is located at http://web.garoumush.org/forum/

Questions or suggestions can be put to InleRah or Hazmat. Enjoy!

Update: 2014

Wikia addition by Hobbes: Feb 13, 2014.

While the forums still exist, as mentioned in a previous update, they is largely unused as of 2014, and require permission to access (to keep out spambots). Speak to a wizard about being granted permission if the need arises.

Lteach Update

Posted by Code-Breaker: Sep 19, 2012.

A minor update to +lteach: it now shows a summary of the history in addition to ongoing learns and pending requests; a new command, +lteach/history, shows the full history. If you have any concerns, problems, or suggestions, contact Code-Breaker.

New +table Command

Posted by Code-Breaker: Oct 20, 2012.

+table/name will list all Garou currently connected along with their alias and altnames. This should save people a lot of typing when trying to figure out who everyone is at moot.

Kin and Hedge Magic

Posted by Hobbes: Oct 21, 2012.

As many of you are likely aware, I've been discussing over the past months the possibility of kin (and humans) having some thematic abilities to help make them more interesting to play and generally enhance the GarouMUSH experience. A number of you have offered concerns and suggestions, which have been discussed thoroughly by the extant wizards, and we've finally come to a conclusion on the matter. Even before my time as a wizard, numina/Hedge Magic were being discussed as an option, so we've decided to stick with that route for the foreseeable future. There will be no kin gifts or rites; that's going to remain the purview of the Garou. However, in the coming weeks, I will be releasing (as I finish the writeups) individual hedge magic paths that will be available for new human apps or existing human characters as the writeups are posted.

Briefly, Hedge Magic is essentially Mage Sphere Magic lite. They have limited potential, but do not suffer paradox, and work under a different set of cultural rules than Mage proper. Hedge Magic paths typically follow long-steeped traditions be it through family, cult, or some other organization. These are your witches, shamans, medicine men, new-age pagans, mystical buddhist monks, and what-have-you. With that in mind, these abilities are not intended to be easily +learned, but will require effort and explanation to increase them: the finding of a grimoire, an elder teacher, pacts with dark powers, and what-have-you.

As to why they haven't yet been seen in St. Claire... well, there will be a story for that. For the moment, however, I'm just focused on getting the kinks worked out of this process, which will take some time. The intent here is to offer new avenues for GMs that don't necessarily follow the triat paradigm, but should be important to the Garou nonetheless: local students find a grimoire and begin casting spells for fun, accidentally summoning some Elder Lovecraftian other-thing which begins to run amok, or some local warlock is intent on increasing his powerbase in St. Claire by controlling minds, some corporation is using magic maliciously to increase its profits, a shaman's cabal if ill-repute takes up residence near the bawn, and so on. Likewise, having a handful of allies that can do some of these things (of which there is always likely to be some tension) will also be offering new avenues for RP.

So, keep checking back. Hedge Magic typically has path dots and rituals, both of which will need to be learned to be successful in its use, and hence the time necessary to make sure everything isbalanced and fair. Remember that the power for these paths is intended to be fairly low, with more for flavor and utility than to be anywhere near on par with the Garou. The current list (which is still subject to change, and will very likely be altered from what you see in the books to fit in our setting) is: Alchemy, Conveyance, Divination, Elementalism (replacing Hellfire), Enchantment, Fortune, Healing, Mana/Energy Manipulation, Oneiromancy, Shadowcasting, Shapeshifting, Summoning, Weather Control. We have no plans to include psychic phenomena. Your contacts for this process are Inlerah and Hobbes. Enjoy!

Addendum: Hedge Magic Update (again)

Posted by Hobbes: Mar 17, 2013.

• Hobbes' Note: Omitted a number of time-specific status updates dealing with this topic.

Hey folks. Yes, I have been making headway with this. CB and I have figured out how we're going to incorporate Hedge Magic onto the +sheet and elsewhere. Now all that's left is writing the copy for the News Files, of which I haven't had time to complete yet due to my RL workload, as well as final Wizcorps approval. This will take as long as it takes, but I don't expect it should take 6 months like the last update. Thanks for being patient!

Update: 2014

Wikia addition by Hobbes: Feb 12, 2014.

This project has been tabled until further notice until the time to finish it becomes available. Contact Hobbes for more information.

W20 Updates

Posted by Hobbes: Mar 17, 2013.

Don't let the title be a misnomer, as we may /or may not/ be updating in any capacity to W20. We are currently evaluating the pros/cons and difficulty/time associated with such an update, and will let y'all know as that discussion evolves.

For now, I have undertaken the responsibility of cataloging all the apparent differences between W20 and previous additions. IF you have access to W20 and would like to help me in this endeavor, please @mail Hobbes ASAP. Thanks folks!

Update: 2014

Wikia addition by Hobbes: Feb 13, 2014.

The W20 update process is an ongoing and slow one largely being dealt with as the need arises. Updates will happen, but, again, are not on any particular timetable. For specific queries on the matter, speak to Hazmat.

Cubs and ONSes

Posted by Hazmat: Jan 17, 2014.

Your friendly neighborhood Hazmat here with a couple of changes to how we handle cubs and ONSes:

1. Cubs are no longer available for new players and will in future be limited in number. The Garou are a dying race, and cubs are more rare the closer we get to the End Days. In addition, cub characters are far more limited in the kind of roleplay they can participate in and require the attention of other PCs as part of their concept. In general, there should be no more than five active cubs at a time, although exceptions will be made on a case by case basis. (For example, if another player volunteers their character to be the cub's primary teacher.)

2. However! New players may app METIS characters in addition to Homid now. Because the cursed offspring of two Garou are definitely NOT rare anymore, and because I hate taking something away without giving something back. :)

3. ONSes. We like these. We like it when people run these. Basically, as long as the ONS isn't going to involve an area directly under the Sept's protection (Caern, Bawn, Edgewood, Harbor Park) and isn't going to cause major property damage or significantly change the game world, you don't need to run the idea by a wizard. Yes, that means you can throw random BSDs at people now. :)

4. Similar to #3, if your ONS is going to involve a tribe's turf or a pack's territory, contact one of the players involved (the tribe's elder or a member of the pack). Consider this the OOC version of Respect the Territory of Another. (Plus, you never know what defences someone else may have set up IC.)

The news files should be updated in the near future. Happy roleplaying!